Game of Thrones

“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”

— Cersei Lannister

“Game of Thrones” is a 10-episode mini-series based on the first book of the fantasy novel series, “A Song of Fire and Ice” by George R. R. Martin. Set in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, GoT revolves around the politics and intrigue surrounding the Iron Throne.

Truly, the best way to adapt a book and give it justice is to turn it into a mini-series, rather than a movie. And with so much gore and sex, this is right up HBO’s alley.

One of the biggest changes here are the characters’ ages, who are all significantly older than their literary counterparts. I am all for it as Danaerys, for example, is 14 years old in the book. That would make all her nude and sex scenes (particularly the dubious consent ones haha) more than a little awkward for me.

The costumes were just absolutely beautifully done. It distracts me sometimes, but that’s just the cosplayer in me talking. My favourites were the armor worn by Tywin Lannister and the gowns worn by the ladies at Eyrie court (despite my disgust for the Arryns).

A lot of fans complained about the casting when it was first announced, particularly about Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon as he had mostly been in comedies prior to this. But I was pleasantly surprised by Addy. Who knew he could pull off such a dramatic role, and do it so well?

And then there’s Jason Momoa.

Mmm, boy. Where do I even begin? To be fair, I was a big Dany x Drogo fan from the book before I discovered the gloriousness that is Jason Momoa.

My only qualms –and they are pretty minor– are one, the lack of emphasis on the more supernatural aspects of the GoT universe. With all the knights and lords and ladies, it’s easy to to think it’s just medieval England not in a land where there once were dragons. They introduce the supernatural elements in the first episode, then pretty much forget about it and suddenly pop up again around episode 8.

Two, I just felt there was too much sex. Granted, the book has a lot of sex too, but this felt more like the directors and producers trying to spice up a really long, rather unexciting bit of dialogue by having it done during a sex scene so people don’t get bored.

Now that the season has ended and they don’t start shooting season two til July, I have nothing to look forward to on Mondays to make them seem a little less blue. To fill the void, I’m going to finish reading the second half of, “A Feast of Crows”, which I hope to finish before, “A Dance with Dragons” comes out next week.

Game of Thrones will soon be aired on HBO Asia. The series will premier locally on Sunday, August 28, 2011 at 10pm (9pm Bangkok/Jakarta) with two consecutive episodes each week.